Code Fellows Reading Notes

Troubleshooting

Name some key differences between a Syntax Error and a Logic Error.

• Syntax errors: These are spelling errors in your code that actually cause the program not to run at all, or stop working part way through — you will usually be provided with some error messages too. These are usually okay to fix, as long as you are familiar with the right tools and know what the error messages mean!
• Logic errors: These are errors where the syntax is actually correct but the code is not what you intended it to be, meaning that program runs successfully but gives incorrect results. These are often harder to fix than syntax errors, as there usually isn’t an error message to direct you to the source of the error.

List a few types of errors that you have encountered in past lab assignments and explain how you were able to correct them. I’ve used the console to figure out the behavior that was happening to figure out whether it’s showing an error, or if it’s just running improperly due to something incorrect in how the code is structured.

How will this topic continue to influence your long term goals? Catching errors is a huge part of figuring out how to arrive at a solution, expecially when you’re taking on a new challenge and experimenting with different approaches you’re unsure of.

Debugger

How would you describe the JavaScript Debugger tool and how it works to someone just starting out in software development? It’s a tool built into the browser that allows you to inspect the code that makes up the pages you’re looking at.

Define what a breakpoint is. Places in your code where you pause the execution in order to inspect what’s happening in the execution of your code by doing things like checking the current value of your variables.

What is the call stack? Shows you what code was executed to get to the current line.